Thailand’s Kongkiat Komesiri (Sad Beauty), the Philippines’ Erik Matti (BuyBust), and Indonesia’s Mike Wiluan (Buffalo Boys) are leading figures in Southeast Asian genre cinema. Here, they will discuss the challenges of making films for both domestic and international consumption in the age of online platforms.

A master storyteller in the tradition of Kurosawa Akira, Harada Masato has been chosen to receive the New York Asian Film Festival’s Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. In this masterclass, he will discuss his career, the state of contemporary Japanese cinema, and the role of cinema in public discourse.

In this panel, three directors with new films screening at the 2018 New York Asian Film Festival—including two making their directorial debuts, Dong Yue (The Looming Storm) and Jiang Jiachen (Looking for Lucky); and Xin Yukun (Wrath of Silence)—are joined by veteran producer Guan Yadi to discuss the state of Mainland Chinese cinema and the rise of a new genre cinema

This panel will discuss the current state and trends of China’s genre cinema, what role the rapidly-changing censorship system is playing in its development, how neighboring countries are shaping it, and how Chinese cinema can gain global influence.